Train Crisis HD is on the right track to addictive gameplay

It’s not often I lose a few hours on a puzzle game. Sure, I love to make my brain sweat here and there, but I’m more of an action- and shooter-oriented type of person. So imagine my surprise after playing Train Crisis HD by U-Play Online, that an hour had already passed. Train Crisis proves that fun gameplay can beat out graphical prowess and explosive action now and again.

Train Crisis HD premise is incredibly simple. You are tasked with guiding your trains to their designated color stations. By switching track routes and signals while avoiding well-placed dynamite and a host of other obstacles and tools, you’ll be in direct control of their paths. After the first few introductory levels, the difficulty quickly ramps-up, testing your previously learned technique. As soon as you’re acquainted with new tools, Train Crisis HD introduces another type of obstacle for you to face.

Prior to each level, you’ll have a view of the direction the trains will head in. Like a military tactician, this is a perfect opportunity for players to plan ahead. Though at times it’s better to learn from mistakes alone, you’ll find yourself relying on trial and error as the level progress into higher difficulty.

This puzzle game doesn’t require brains alone, split-second timing is also required. As up to four different trains share the same tracks you’ll be frantically switching paths quite often. Toss in differents speeds, and it becomes a multi-tasking frenzy as you hope to prevent train collision ending in flames and explosions.

Train Crisis cleverly hooks you into their addictive puzzles and then, unfortunately, pulls the rug from underneath you. Only a few handful of levels are available, charging for additional levels. While I’m not a fan of this model, this is one of the few exceptions where I didn’t mind. Challenging your logic under stress and testing your multi-tasking ability, this is worth the in-game purchase.